'Same Time Next Year' coming to Benicia's BDES Hall

Poor Alan Coyne. Could be because the actor's from Dublin. As in Ireland, not the East Bay city. But he keeps getting pigeonholed.

"Lady Macbeth, Dr. Stephen Hawking, a praying mantis, a 6-year-old London girl, a WWII marine lieutenant, the sun, Sherlock Holmes, a 19th-century South African man-servant, a space monster made primarily of processed cheese, that sort of thing," Coyne said. "I tend to get cast in similar types of roles."

He's joking, obviously. The Oakland resident is obviously flexible, thanks in part to performing and teaching improvisational theatre at Oakland's Pan Theatre for nine years.

It's led him to "Same Time, Next Year," the Benicia Old Town Theatre Group's 50th anniversary offering opening 18 at BDES Hall. Coyne shares the stage with co-lead actor Rebecca Grayce under the direction of Hester Schell.

The limited cast was an attraction, Coyne said.

"Part of this play's appeal is that it is a two-person show," he said.

"I used to be slightly less than half of an improv duo called The Coolidge Effect and I really liked both the focus required and the freedom allowed when you share a stage with just one other person. It also gives me the chance to play one character through very different stages of life."

Coyne considers Grayce the lead actor "and I'm more of a follower," he said. "Otherwise, she can turn violent. But honestly, from the moment we got on stage together at the callback, it was pretty clear this would work out. She is everything I could have wished for in a co-conspirator: energetic, generous, frank, funny, excellent taste in music, you name it."

Grayce, a Fairfield native and 2013 Arty Award winner, said there is a challenge to the role.

"To be one-half of a two-person play, and to age 25 years in about two hours seemed like an incredible puzzle to work out," said Grace, now in El Cerrito. "Even before the audition, the role intimidated me.

When those feelings arise, as an artist, I have the choice to either stick to playing it safe or challenge myself, and I chose to let it inspire me."

Playing what amounts to multiple characters adds spice to the portrayal, Coyne said, "and there are also things I enjoy about concentrating on one character and this part is a bit of both."

Coyne had come off of "Spamalot," a light-hearted farce to the heavy-ensemble drama, The Laramie Project, to the musical, South Pacific.

"Same Time, Next Year" is "rather unlike any of those," said Coyne, who rather enjoys the constant stage time.

"I absolutely love getting to be up there the whole time," he said.

"For one thing, I don't have to worry about missing an entrance. More seriously, though, a two-person show can be physically and mentally demanding, but acting, for me, is sort of transcendent state, such

that I don't often notice how much energy it takes until after the show ends."

Sure, there's pressure in a two-person cast, Grayce said, but it also means "we're more in control of what happens. Rather than waiting for our entrance in the second act, or only have three lines to make an impression on the audience, we're lucky to get the entire time to let the audience get to know us and find themselves in our characters."

"Same Time, Next Year" teaches people "to stay open to love, in all forms, even when you're not looking for it, even when you're already got it, even if it's socially unacceptable, it can find you and there's good reason to hang on to it."

Sharing the space with Grayce is a positive thing, Coyne noted.

"There's the joy of having someone up there with you that you can work with to a point where you know you can totally trust them and really connect with them in every moment, because you get to give them your whole attention," he said.

"We had an instant rapport and threw ourselves into the roles," Grayce said.

For the audience, "the play is appealing on a couple of levels," Coyne said. "First of all, and this is something that also drew me to it, it deals with periods of American history during which social attitudes

and gender roles and cultural norms changed so drastically over the course of just a few years. And sometimes those changes come out in obvious ways like fashion or direct references, and sometimes they're more subtle. Plus, there's so much fantasy to the whole relationship, and who doesn't like a bit of fantasy?"